Automatic head care method and automatic head care system

ABSTRACT

An automatic head care system capable of reliably caring, such as kneading and washing, or massaging, an entire occipital region with the occipital region securely supported is realized. By a method using an automatic head care system including an occipital region care unit having an occipital region contact unit and a pair of care arms having head contact units, when the care arms care a head except for an occipital region, the occipital region contact unit of the occipital region care unit supports the occipital region, and when the occipital region care unit cares the occipital region, the head contact units of the care arms support the head.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automatic head care system forautomatically caring a person's head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A hair washing has been known as one of the typical person's head cares.In the industry of beauty care including hair styling and hair cutting,head washing is laborious and has been desired to be automated. Also inthe medical field, head washing for inpatients is laborious and has beendesired to be automated.

There has been known, for example, an automatic hair washing apparatusdisclosed in Patent Document 1 washing a person's head automatically.The automatic hair washing apparatus has a bowl accommodating theperson's head lying with his/her face upward, a head support netsupporting an occipital region of the head from below in the bowl, and aplurality of nozzles ejecting washing water from below toward the head.The automatic hair washing apparatus ejects water from the nozzles,thereby washing hair of the person's head supported by the head supportnet. In the automatic hair washing apparatus, ejecting pressure of eachof the nozzles is controlled to be switched at predetermined timeintervals. Patent Document 1 discloses that such control allows a personwhose hair is washed by the automatic hair washing apparatus to feel asif his head is massaged by hand.

Patent Document 1: WO 2010/090005 A1

Disadvantageously, as in the automatic hair washing apparatus disclosedin Patent Document 1, when the ejection pressure of washing water ismerely changed, persons may not sufficiently feel as if their heads arekneaded and washed or massaged.

The inventor intended to develop an automatic head care system having apair of right and left movable arms kneading and washing, or massaging aperson's head, as an automatic head care system capable of giving aperson the same feeling as when the head is kneaded and washed, ormassaged by hand.

Disadvantageously, in the case where head is kneaded and washed, ormassaged with the automatic head care system having such arms, theoccipital region needs to be supported from below by some supportmember. In this case, a portion of the occipital region, whichinterferes with the support member, cannot be cared with the arms.

In order to solve the problem, an object of the present invention is toprovide an automatic head care system capable of reliably caring, suchas kneading and washing, or massaging an entire occipital region withthe occipital region securely supported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For this purpose, an automatic head care method of the present inventionuses an automatic head care system including an occipital region careunit supporting the head, a pair of care arms arranged on right and leftsides of the occipital region care unit, a head contact unit provided ateach of the pair of care arms, an arm actuator driving the care arms, anoccipital region contact unit provided at the occipital region careunit, an occipital region care unit actuator driving the occipitalregion care unit, and an occipital region pushing force detectordetecting a pushing force on the occipital region contact unit, themethod comprising:

supporting the occipital region by the occipital region contact unit ofthe occipital region care unit when the care arms care the head exceptfor the occipital region; and

supporting the head by the head contact units of the care arms when theoccipital region care unit cares the occipital region.

Further, for this purpose, an automatic head care system of the presentinvention includes:

an occipital region care unit supporting a person's head;

a pair of care arms arranged on right and left sides of the occipitalregion care unit;

a head contact unit provided at each of the pair of care arms;

an arm actuator driving the care arms;

an occipital region contact unit provided at the occipital region careunit;

an occipital region care unit actuator driving the occipital region careunit;

an occipital region pushing force detector detecting a pushing force onthe occipital region contact unit; and

a control device controlling the arm actuator and the occipital regioncare unit actuator,

wherein the control device performs such control that

when the care arms care the head except for the occipital region, theoccipital region contact unit of the occipital region care unit supportsthe occipital region, and that

when the occipital region care unit cares the occipital region, the headcontact units of the care arms support the head.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a person's entire occipital regioncan be reliably cared, such as washed and kneaded, or massaged, with theoccipital region securely supported.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a specific example of an automatichead washing system in accordance with a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the automatic head washing system in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the schematic configurations of a leftwashing unit and a right washing unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the driving mechanism of an arm.

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a kneading operation of the arm.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating the kneading operation of the arm.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a specific example of a head care unit ofthe arm.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the specific example of the headcare unit of the arm.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the direction of a pushing rotation ofthe arm.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the direction of a swinging rotation ofthe arm.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a specific example of an occipitalregion care unit.

FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating the swinging operation of theoccipital region care unit.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control deviceof the automatic head washing system in FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section in accordance with the firstembodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section in accordance with a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section of another aspect of the firstembodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing a head washing operation in accordancewith the first embodiment.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the drawings, an embodiment according to the presentinvention will be described hereinafter. Like elements are denoted bylike reference numerals to avoid duplicate descriptions and descriptionsthereof may be omitted. Each drawing mainly shows structural element orelements schematically for the better understanding thereof.

In the present specification, the term “water” is used in a broadersense including “hot water”. In other words, the term “water” in thepresent specification means “water or hot water”. In the presentspecification, the term “hot water” is used in a narrower senseincluding only “hot water”.

An automatic head washing system for automatically washing a person'shead will be described in the embodiments as an example of an automatichead care system for automatically caring a person's head. Further, ahead washing operation of automatically washing a person's head will bedescribed in the embodiments as an example of an automatic head caremethod for automatically caring a person's head. It should be noted thatthe expression “caring of a person's head” refers to caring a person'shead with pressing force, such as washing or massaging of a person'shead. Also, it should be noted that the expression “washing of aperson's head” means washing of a person's scalp or hair, for examplewith kneading. In the present specification, “left” or “right” refers tothe direction viewed from the person whose head is cared.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of anautomatic head washing system 100 in accordance with a first embodimentof the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing theschematic configuration of the automatic head washing system 100.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the automatic head washing system 100 hasa bowl 101 enclosing an almost half rear surface of a head 10 of aperson who lies with his/her face upward.

The bowl 101 is provided with a notch 101 c supporting a person's neckfrom below. The notch 101 c is provided at the center of the bowl 101 inthe lateral direction. The person's neck is set at the notch 101 c,thereby positioning the person's head 10 at the substantially center ofthe bowl 101 in the lateral direction. An occipital region care unit 500is provided in the bowl 101 such that an occipital region 11 of theperson's head 10 (see FIG. 13) can be supported from below. Theoccipital region care unit 500 is provided so as to rise from a bottom101 d of the bowl 101. Specific configuration of the occipital regioncare unit 500 will be described later. To prevent water and shampoo fromscattering toward the outside, a hood 113 is detachably attached to thebowl 101. Preferably, the hood 113 is openable and is made of atransparent material so as not to cause the person to have an oppressivefeeling and anxiety during washing.

When the automatic head washing system 100 washes the person's head 10,a water shield may be attached to the person's head 10. When the watershield is attached to the person's head 10, water and so on ejected frombelow-mentioned nozzles 110 are shielded by the water shield, preventingwater and so on from scattering onto a person's face.

Support columns 102L and 102R are provided on the right and left sides,respectively, of the occipital region care unit 500 in a housing 101 aconstituting the bowl 101. Support columns 102L and 102R are movable inthe lateral direction of the head 10. Thus, the distance between theperson's head 10 and each of below-mentioned arm bases 103L and 103R canbe adjusted according to the size of the person's head 10.

A washing unit 12 washing the person's head 10 is provided in the bowl101. The washing unit 12 is configured of a left washing unit 12Llocated on the left side of the occipital region care unit 500 and aright washing unit 12R located on the right side of the occipital regioncare unit 500. Driving of these washing units 12 and the occipitalregion care unit 500 is controlled by a below-mentioned control device600.

First, the configuration of the left washing unit 12L will be described.

The left washing unit 12L has a support shaft 104L coupled to thesupport column 102L, and can rotate about the support shaft 104L. Thesupport shaft 104L is provided on the left side of the head 10 so as toextend in the lateral direction of the head 10. The left washing unit12L is configured of a left arm 114L and a pipe 111L. The left arm 114Lincludes an arm housing 115L. The left arm housing 115L conforms to theleft half of the head 10. Specifically, the arm housing 115L extendsfrom its bottom end to the center in a substantially linear manner, andfrom the center to its tip end in a substantially arcuate manner. Afirst arm 105L, a second arm 106L, and third arms 107L and 108L, whichare shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, are stored in the arm housing 115L. Thearms 114L and 114R are an example of care arms.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the left washingunit 12L and the right washing unit 12R, and FIG. 4 is a schematic viewshowing the driving mechanism of the left arm 114L. In FIG. 3 and FIG.4, the vertical direction is defined as a Z axis, and directionsperpendicular to the vertical direction are defined as an X axis and a Yaxis.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pipe 111L of the left washing unit 12L has aplurality of nozzles 110 ejecting at least one of water, a washingliquid, and conditioner toward the head 10. The pipe 111L is attached tothe arm base 103L fixed to the support shaft 104L, and can rotate aboutthe support shaft 104L together with the arm base 103L.

The first arm 105L is attached to the arm base 103L, and can rotateabout the support shaft 104L together with the arm base 103L. The firstarm 105L rotatably supports the second arm 106L. The second arm 106Lrotatably supports the two third arms 107L and 108L. A head contact unit409L that can contact the head 10 is attached to the third arms 107L and108L.

The head contact unit 409L has a plurality of contacts 109. The contacts109 are exposed to the outside of the arm housing 115L. The contacts 109are made of an elastic rubber material, for example. As shown in FIG. 1,when the automatic head washing system 100 cares the head 10, a cover116 (see FIG. 1) may be attached to the contacts 109. The cover 116 canprevent water, shampoo, or stains from adhering to the contacts 109.

A left arm swinging motor 201L is arranged in the support column 102L. Arotation output of the left arm swinging motor 201L is transmitted tothe support shaft 104L through a gear 203L attached to a motor rotationoutput shaft 202L and a gear 204L attached to the support shaft 104L.The arm base 103L attached to the support shaft 104L is driven by therotation output transmitted from the left arm swinging motor 201L so asto be rotatable in the direction of an arrow 205L.

A left arm pushing motor 206L and an arm rotation shaft 209L arearranged in the arm base 103L. The arm rotation shaft 209L is providedat a substantially right angle to the support shaft 104L. A rotationoutput of the left arm pushing motor 206L is transmitted to the firstarm 105L through a gear 207L attached to a motor rotation output shaft207La and a gear 208L attached to the arm rotation shaft 209L. The firstarm 105L is driven by the rotation output transmitted from the left armpushing motor 206L so as to be rotatable about the arm rotation shaft209L in the direction of an arrow 210L.

The first arm 105L includes a first pressure sensor 211L that is a firsthead pushing force detector detecting the pushing force of the head 10on the head contact unit 409L. The first arm 105L rotatably supports thesecond arm 106L through a support shaft 212L. The second arm 106Lrotatably supports the third arm 107L through the support shaft 213L,and rotatably supports the third arm 108L through a support shaft 214L.

In FIG. 4, the third arms 107L and 108L are viewed from the surface ofthe head 10 in the direction of a normal 215L (see FIG. 3). To describethe drive transmitting system of the left arm 114L, FIG. 4 schematicallyshows the arrangement of each of the arm base 103L, the first arm 105L,and the second arm 106L.

As shown in FIG. 4, a left arm kneading motor 301L is arranged in thesecond arm 106L. A rotation output of the left arm kneading motor 301Lis transmitted to a drive shaft 304L through a gear 302L attached to amotor rotation output shaft and a gear 303L attached to the drive shaft304L. The drive shaft 304L is driven by the rotation output transmittedfrom the left arm kneading motor 301L so as to be rotatable about theshaft.

A rotation output of a gear 305L attached to one end of the drive shaft304L is transmitted to a gear 307L and a gear 311L that are attached tothe third arm 107L through a cylindrical rack 306L. The cylindrical rack306L moves parallel to the support shaft 213L, thereby causing the gear307L to rotate about a rotation shaft 308L and the gear 311L to rotateabout a rotation shaft 312L. The cylindrical rack 306L is rotatablysupported by the second arm 106L through the support shaft 213L, and isheld so as to be movable parallel to the support shaft 213L.

The cylindrical rack 306L is substantially cylindrical as a whole, andincludes an axisymmetric rack mechanism 306La on its side surface. Therack mechanism 306La engages with the gear 305L attached to the driveshaft 304L as well as the gear 307L and the gear 311L.

A fourth arm 309L coupling the two contacts 109 to each other isconnected to the gear 307L. The two contacts 109 of the fourth arm 309Lrotate about the rotation shaft 308L integrally with the gear 307L.Similarly, a fourth arm 310L coupling the two contacts 109 to each otheris connected to the gear 311L. The two contacts 109 of the fourth arm310L rotate about the rotation shaft 312L integrally with the gear 311L.

A rotation output of a gear 313L attached to the other end of the driveshaft 304L is transmitted to a gear 315L and a gear 318L that areattached to the third arm 108L through a cylindrical rack 314L. Thecylindrical rack 314L moves parallel to the support shaft 214L, therebycausing the gear 315L to rotate about a rotation shaft 316L and the gear318L to rotate about a rotation shaft 319L. The cylindrical rack 314L issubstantially cylindrical as a whole, and has an axisymmetric rackmechanism 314La on its side surface. The cylindrical rack 314L isrotatably supported by the second arm 106L through the support shaft214L, and is held so as to be movable parallel to the support shaft214L.

A fourth arm 317L coupling the two contacts 109 to each other isconnected to the gear 315L. The two contacts 109 of the fourth arm 317Lrotate about the rotation shaft 316L integrally with the gear 315L.Similarly, a fourth arm 320L coupling the two contacts 109 to each otheris connected to the gear 318L. The two contacts 109 of the fourth arm320L rotate about the rotation shaft 319L integrally with the gear 318L.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are views showing a kneading operation of the leftarm 114L. FIG. 5A shows the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L supported bythe second arm 106L, and the gears 307L, 311L, 315L, and 318L that areattached to the third arms 107L and 108L, the fourth arms 309L, 310L,317L, and 320L, and the contacts 109. FIG. 5B shows the fourth arms309L, 310L, 317L, and 320L and the contacts 109, and does not show thecylindrical racks 306L and 314L and the gears 307L, 311L, 315L, and318L. In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the second arm 106L and the third arms107L and 108L are schematically shown as a bar 27 in a unit.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when the cylindrical rack 306L moves in thedirection of an arrow 27 a, the gear 307L adjacent to the cylindricalrack 306L rotates in the direction of an arrow 27 b, and the gear 311Lrotates in the direction of an arrow 27 c. In line with this, thecontacts 109 attached to the gears 307L and 311L through the fourth arms309L and 310L, respectively, rotates in opposite directions of arrows 27d and 27 e.

When the cylindrical rack 314L moves in the direction of the arrow 27 a,the gear 315L adjacent to the cylindrical rack 314L rotates in thedirection of the arrow 27 b, and the gear 318L rotates in the directionof the arrow 27 c. In line with this, the contacts 109 attached to thegears 315L and 318L through the fourth arms 317L and 320L, respectively,rotate in the opposite directions of the arrows 27 d and 27 e.

When the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L rotate in the direction of thearrow 27 a, the adjacent gears 307L and 318L attached to the adjacentdifferent third arms 107L and 108L (see FIG. 4), respectively, rotate inopposite directions. As a result, the contacts 109 attached to the gears307L and 318L through the fourth arms 309L and 320L, respectively, movein the opposite directions of the arrows 27 d and 27 e. When thecylindrical racks 306L and 314L move in the direction of the arrow 27 a,the two contacts 109 adjacent to each other in the direction orthogonalto the axial direction of the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L move toget close to or away from each other in the directions of the arrows 27d and 27 e.

When the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L move in the direction of thearrow 27 a after the contacts 109 make contact with scalp of theperson's head 10, scalp areas in contact with the contacts 109 get closeto or away from each other. This can contract or extend the scalp of theperson's head 10, thereby kneading the scalp of the person's head 10.

When the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L move in the direction of thearrow 27 a in the state where the contacts 109 are in contact with hairon the person's head 10, hair between the contacts 109 can be pinched orpulled to displace and move bunches constituting hair in variousdirections, thereby kneading the bunches.

As shown in FIG. 5B, when the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L move inthe opposite direction to the direction of the arrow 27 a (see FIG. 5A),the gears 307L, 311L, 315L, and 318L (see FIG. 5A) and the contacts 109each move in the opposite direction to the operating direction shown inFIG. 5A. In the left washing unit 12L, the cylindrical racks 306L and314L can be reciprocated in the direction of the arrow 27 a and theopposite direction to the direction of the arrow 27 a to alternate astate A in FIG. 5A and a state B in FIG. 5B and oscillate the contacts109. As a result, the operation of kneading the head 10 with theplurality of contacts 109 (hereinafter referred to as a “kneadingoperation”) is achieved.

The right washing unit 12R and the left washing unit 12L aresymmetrically configured right and left.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, the right washing unit12R has a support shaft 104R coupled to the support column 102R, and canrotate about the support shaft 104R. The right washing unit 12R includesa right arm 114R and a pipe 111R, and the right arm 114R has an armhousing 115R. First to third arms 105R, 106R, 107R, and 108R are storedin the arm housing 115R. As shown in FIG. 3, the first arm 105R isattached to an arm base 103R, and can rotate about the support shaft104R together with the arm base 103R. A head contact unit 409R that cancontact the head 10 is attached to the third arms 107R and 108R. Thehead contact unit 409R has a plurality of contacts 109.

A right arm swinging motor 201R is arranged in the support column 102R.A rotation output of the right arm swinging motor 201R is transmitted tothe support shaft 104R through a gear 203R attached to a motor rotationoutput shaft 202R and a gear 204R attached to the support shaft 104R.The arm base 103R attached to the support shaft 104R is driven by therotation output transmitted from the right arm swinging motor 201R so asto be rotatable in the direction of an arrow 205R.

A right arm pushing motor 206R and an arm rotation shaft 209R arearranged in the arm base 103R. The arm rotation shaft 209R is providedat a substantially right angle to the support shaft 104R. A rotationoutput of the right arm pushing motor 206R is transmitted to the firstarm 105R through a gear 207R attached to a motor rotation output shaft207Ra and a gear 208R attached to the arm rotation shaft 209R of thefirst arm 105R. The first arm 105R is driven by the rotation outputtransmitted from the right arm pushing motor 206L so as to be rotatableabout the arm rotation shaft 209R in the direction of an arrow 210R.

The first arm 105R includes a second pressure sensor 211R that is asecond head pushing force detector detecting the pushing force of thehead 10 on the head contact unit 409R. The first arm 105R rotatablysupports the second arm 106R through the support shaft 212R. The secondarm 106R rotatably supports the third arm 107R through a support shaft213R, and rotatably supports the third arm 108R through a support shaft214R.

Gears that engage with a cylindrical rack are attached to each of thethird arms 107R and 108R. The cylindrical racks are rotatably supportedby the second arm 106R through the support shafts 213R and 214R, and areheld so as to be movable parallel to the support shafts 213R and 214R.Each of the gears is connected to a fourth arm coupling the two contacts109 to each other, and the two contacts 109 are rotated by a right armkneading motor arranged in the second arm 106R integrally with the gear.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a specific example of a headcare unit 40 configured of a part closer to the distal ends than thefirst arms 105L and 105R in the left arm 114L and the right arm 114Rwill be described.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the specific example of the head care unit40, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the specific example of thehead care unit 40. In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the second arm 106L ispartially shown. In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, although the head care unit 40 ofthe left arm 114L is shown, the right arm 114R has a similar head careunit.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the head care unit 40 includes the driveshaft 304L transmitting an output from the left arm kneading motor 301Larranged in the second arm 106L, the two cylindrical racks 306L and 314Lthat engage with the gears 305L and 313L arranged at the both ends ofthe drive shaft 304L, respectively, and the third arms 107L and 108Lrotatably held by the support shafts 213L and 214L that correspond tocentral axes 306Lb and 314Lb of the two cylindrical racks 306L and 314L,respectively.

In the head care unit 40, a rotation output of the left arm kneadingmotor 301L is transmitted to the gears 307L, 311L, 315L, and 318Lattached to the third arms 107L and 108L through the gears 305L and 313Land the cylindrical racks 306L and 314L that are arranged at both endsof the drive shaft 304L. The rotation output transmitted from the leftarm kneading motor 301L causes the gears 307L, 311L, 315L, and 318L torotate, rotating the two contacts 109 attached to each of the gears307L, 311L, 315L, and 318L.

The two cylindrical racks 306L and 314L are rotatably supported by thesecond arm 106L through the support shafts 213L and 214L, respectively.The gear 307L engaging with the cylindrical rack 306L is connected tothe rotation shaft 308L rotatably held by the third arm 107L. Therotation shaft 308L is connected to the fourth arm 309L coupling the twocontacts 109 to each other. Thus, the gear 307L and the contacts 109 canrotate about the rotation shaft 308L together. The rotation shaft 308Lis designed to maintain the engagement state between the cylindricalrack 306L and the gear 307L, for example, by including flanges in topand bottom portions across the third arm 107L. The gears 311L, 315L, and318L are configured like the gear 307L. Specifically, the gears 311L,315L, and 318L can rotate about the rotation shafts 312L, 316L, and319L, respectively, integrally with the contacts 109.

The fourth arms 309L, 310L, 317L, and 320L each are inverted V-likeshaped, and function as a plate spring as an example of an elastic body.Thus, the contacts 109 are pushed onto the person's head 10 by elasticforces of the fourth arms 309L, 310L, 317L, and 320L, and move along thesurface of the person's head 10. Therefore, the person's head 10 can becared smoothly and efficiently with the contacts 109.

With reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, various definitions of theoperating direction of the right and left arms 114L and 114R will bedescribed below. Although FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show only the left arm 114Lof the right and left arms 114L and 114R, the same definition is appliedto the right arm 114R as well.

As shown in FIG. 8, the arm 114L (114R) rotates about the arm rotationshaft 209L (209R) so as to get close to or away from the surface of theperson's head 10, which is referred to as a “pushing rotation”. Thedirection in which the arm 114L (114R) gets close to the head 10 isreferred to as “pushing direction (direction of an arrow D1)”, and thedirection in which the arm 114L (114R) gets away from the head 10 isreferred to as a “release direction (direction of an arrow D2)”. Theangular position at which the arm 114L (114R) is furthest from the head10 is defined as 0 degrees, and an angle displaced from the angularposition of 0 degrees in the pushing direction is referred to as a“pushing angle θ_(PL) (θ_(PR))”.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the automatic head washing system 100, the arm114L (114R) rotates about the support shaft 104L (104R) in the forwardand rearward direction of the head 10, which is referred to as a“swinging rotation”. The direction of the swinging rotation toward thefront of the head 10 (direction of an arrow D3) is defined as a positivedirection. As for the angle of the swinging rotation, the angularposition in the rear of the head 10 is defined as 0 degrees, and anangle displaced from the angular position of 0 degrees in the positivedirection is referred to as a “swing angle θ_(SL) (θ_(SR))”. That is,the direction in which the swing angle θ_(SL) (θ_(SR)) is 0 degrees is avertically downward direction. In this embodiment, the maximum value ofthe swing angle θ_(SL) (θ_(SR)) is set to 130 degrees for example. Thatis, in this embodiment, the swing angle θ_(SL) (θ_(SR)) at which thehead contact units 409L and 409R of the arms 114L and 114R are arrangedvertically downward with respect to the support shafts 104L and 104R,respectively, is referred to as 0 degrees. In this embodiment, the swingangle θ_(SL) (θ_(SR)) of the arms 114L and 114R at which the headcontact units 409L and 409R are arranged in a horizontal directiontoward the top of the head 10 supported by the occipital region careunit 500 with respect to the support shafts 104L and 104R of the arms114L and 114R is defined as 90 degrees.

Returning to FIG. 3, the automatic head washing system 100 has a watersystem valve 216, a washing liquid system valve 217, and a conditionersystem valve 218. Outlets of the water system valve 216, the washingliquid system valve 217, and the conditioner system valve 218 areinterconnected in parallel, and are connected to pipes 111L and 111Rthrough piping 219. An inlet of the water system valve 216 is connectedto a water system supplying unit to receive water from the outside. Aninlet of the washing liquid system valve 217 is connected to a mixingunit 220 mixing a washing liquid and compressed air to receive amousse-like washing liquid formed by mixing the washing liquid from awashing liquid supplying unit 222 supplying a washing liquid such asshampoo and compressed air in the mixing unit 220. An inlet of theconditioner system valve 218 is connected to a conditioner supplyingunit 221 to receive conditioner from the conditioner supplying unit 221.

In the automatic head washing system 100, by appropriately controllingthe water system valve 216, the washing liquid system valve 217, and theconditioner system valve 218, water, a mousse-like washing liquid, orconditioner can be ejected from the plurality of nozzles 110 provided atthe pipes 111L and 111R. Mist-like conditioner may be ejected from anozzle other than the nozzles 110. In this case, a path for theconditioner may be formed by connecting the nozzle capable of sprayingconditioner to the conditioner system valve 218.

In the automatic head washing system 100, the washing unit 12 can beoperated according to the shape of the person's head 10 to wash the head10. Therefore, the person's head 10 can be efficiently washed to reducethe amount of used water or shampoo as well as waste water.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the automatic head washing system 100, two drainoutlets 101 b are provided on the bottom 101 d of the bowl 101 todischarge washing water and so on through the drain outlets 101 b. Adrain pipe is connected to the drain outlets 101 b. Water and so on usedfor washing are discharged from the drain outlets 101 b to the outside.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, a specific example of theoccipital region care unit 500 will be described below. The occipitalregion care unit 500 has a function of caring the person's occipitalregion 11 (see FIG. 13) and a function of supporting the occipitalregion 11 when the arms 114L and 114R care the person's head 10. Whenthe occipital region care unit 500 cares the occipital region 11, thehead 10 is supported by the arms 114L and 114R as described later.

As shown in FIG. 10, the occipital region care unit 500 has the similarconfiguration to that of the head care unit 40 of the arms 114L and114R. The occipital region care unit 500 has an occipital region contactunit 548 having a plurality of contacts 550 that can contact theoccipital region 11 and an occipital region kneading motor 501 allowingthe occipital region contact unit 548 to perform the kneading operation.Although each constituent of the occipital region care unit 500 in FIG.10 is stored in a housing 560 (see FIG. 11), the housing 560 is notshown in FIG. 10. However, the below-mentioned contacts 550 and kneadingarms 509, 510, 539, and 540 are exposed from the housing 560.

The occipital region kneading motor 501 is installed in the housing 560.A rotation output of the occipital region kneading motor 501 istransmitted to a drive shaft 504 through a gear 502 attached to a motorrotation output shaft and a gear 503 attached to the drive shaft 504.Gears 505 and 513 are provided at both respective ends of the driveshaft 504. One gear 505 engages with a first cylindrical rack 506, andthe other gear 513 engages with a second cylindrical rack 514. Supportshafts 523 and 524 of the cylindrical racks 506 and 514 are rotatablyheld by holding stages 527 and 528.

Two gears 507 and 511 engage with the first cylindrical rack 506, andtwo gears 537 and 541 engage with the second cylindrical rack 514.Although the gears 507, 511, 537, and 541 are fan-like in FIG. 10, theshape of the gears 507, 511, 537, and 541 is not specifically limited.

The kneading arms 509, 510, 539, and 540 are connected to the gears 507,511, 537, and 541 through rotation shafts 508, 512, 538, and 542,respectively. Thus, the gears 507, 511, 537, and 541 and the kneadingarms 509, 510, 539, and 540 can integrally rotate about the rotationshafts 508, 512, 538, and 542, respectively.

The rotation shafts 508, 512, 538, and 542 are rotatably held by theholding stages 527 and 528. The rotation shafts 508, 512, 538, and 542are designed to maintain the engagement state between the cylindricalracks 506 and 514 and the gears 507, 511, 537, and 541, for example, byincluding flanges in top and bottom portions across the holding stages527 and 528.

The contacts 550 are provided at both ends of each of the kneading arms509, 510, 539, and 540. In FIG. 10, the contacts 550 shown on the rightside of the center contact the left half of the occipital region 11, andthe contacts 550 shown on the left side of the center contact the righthalf of the occipital region 11.

The kneading arms 509, 510, 539, and 540 each are V-like shaped, andfunction as a plate spring as an example of an elastic body. For thisreason, the contacts 550 are pushed onto the occipital region 11 byelastic forces of the kneading arms 509, 510, 539, and 540, and movealong the surface of the occipital region 11. Therefore, the contacts550 can care the occipital region 11 smoothly and efficiently.

With such configuration, in the occipital region care unit 500, arotation output of the occipital region kneading motor 501 istransmitted of the gears 507, 511, 537, and 541 connected to one ends ofthe rotation shafts 508, 512, 538, and 542, respectively, through thegears 505 and 513 and the cylindrical racks 506 and 514 that arearranged at both ends of the drive shaft 504. The kneading arms 509,510, 539, and 540 are rotated by the rotation output transmitted fromthe occipital region kneading motor 501 integrally with the gears 507,511, 537, and 541, kneading the occipital region 11 with the contacts550 provided at the both ends of the kneading arms 509, 510, 539, and540.

FIG. 11 is a side view schematically showing an attachment structure ofthe occipital region care unit 500.

As shown in FIG. 11, in this embodiment, an occipital region oscillatingmotor 572 is provided as an oscillating device oscillating the occipitalregion care unit 500. The occipital region oscillating motor 572oscillates the occipital region care unit 500 about a rotation shaft 564extending in the lateral direction of the person's head 10. Theoccipital region oscillating motor 572 is fixed to the bottom 101 d ofthe bowl 101. One end of the rotation shaft 564 is drivingly coupled toa rotation output shaft of the occipital region oscillating motor 572,and the other end of the rotation shaft 564 is rotatably supported by abase 570 attached to the bottom 101 d of the bowl 101. A lower end of anoscillating arm 562 is coupled to the rotation shaft 564. Theoscillating arm 562 can rotate integrally with the rotation shaft 564.

The housing 560 of the occipital region care unit 500 is fixed to anupper end of the oscillating arm 562. The housing 560 includes a thirdpressure sensor 580 that is an occipital region pushing force detectordetecting the pushing force of the occipital region 11 on the occipitalregion contact unit 548.

With such configuration, by driving the occipital region oscillatingmotor 572, the occipital region care unit 500 can oscillate integrallywith the rotation shaft 564 and the oscillating arm 562 so as to getclose to or away from the notch 101 c of the bowl 101. Thereby, theposition of the occipital region care unit 500 can be adjusted in theoscillating direction, resulting in that the occipital region care unit500 can support or care the occipital region 11 at a more suitableposition.

The oscillating direction of the occipital region care unit 500 isdefined as follows. First, the oscillating direction toward the notch101 c (direction of an arrow D4) is defined as a positive direction. Asfor the angular position in the oscillating direction, the angularposition furthest from the notch 101 c in the oscillating range of theoccipital region care unit 500 is defined as 0 degrees. The magnitude ofthe angle displaced from the angular position of 0 degrees in thepositive direction is defined as an oscillating angle θ_(T). The angularposition closest to the notch 101 c in the oscillating range is definedas θ_(TMAX).

The occipital region care unit 500 may be designed to be adjustable inposition in the horizontal direction along the bottom 101 d of the bowl101, as well as in the oscillating direction as described above. In thiscase, the occipital region care unit 500 can be positioned more suitablyto achieve more comfortable support or care of the occipital region 11with the occipital region care unit 500.

Preferably, the occipital region care unit 500 includes an occipitalregion washing nozzle. When the occipital region care unit 500 providedwith the nozzle washes the occipital region 11, the occipital regionwashing nozzle can eject water, a washing liquid, or conditioner towardthe occipital region 11. In this case, for example, the water systemsupplying unit, the washing liquid supplying unit 222, and theconditioner supplying unit 221 are connected to a pipe connected to theoccipital region washing nozzle.

Control of various operations of the automatic head washing system 100will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 12, the automatic head washing system 100 includes thecontrol device 600 comprehensively controlling the operation of theautomatic head washing system 100.

The control device 600 controls a pair of right and left arm actuators401L and 401R driving the arms 114L and 114R, respectively, an occipitalregion care unit actuator 402 driving the occipital region care unit500, and opening/closing of the various valves 216, 217, and 218 toachieve various operations of the automatic head washing system 100. Thepair of right and left arm actuators 401L and 401R drive the arms 114Land 114R such that the head contact units 409L and 409R care the head10. The occipital region care unit actuator 402 drives the occipitalregion care unit 500 such that the occipital region contact unit 548cares the occipital region 11.

The left arm actuator 401L includes the left arm swinging motor 201L,the left arm pushing motor 206L, and the left arm kneading motor 301L.The right arm actuator 401R includes the right arm swinging motor 201R,the right arm pushing motor 206R, and the right arm kneading motor 301R.

The left arm swinging motor 201L and the right arm swinging motor 201Rinclude encoders 291L and 291R generating a pulse signal in sync withthe rotational angle of the arm swinging motors 201L and 201R,respectively. The pulse signals generated by the encoders 291L and 291R,which are information on the swing angles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) of the arms114L and 114R, are inputted to the control device 600.

Similarly, the left arm pushing motor 206L and the right arm pushingmotor 206R include encoders 296L and 296R generating a pulse signal insync with the rotational angle of the arm pushing motors 206L and 206R.The pulse signals generated by the encoders 296L and 296R, which areinformation on the pushing angles θ_(PL) and θ_(PR) of the arms 114L and114R, are inputted to the control device 600.

The occipital region care unit actuator 402 includes the occipitalregion oscillating motor 572 and the occipital region kneading motor501. The occipital region oscillating motor 572 includes an encoder 592generating a pulse signal in sync with the rotational angle of theoccipital region oscillating motor 572, which is an oscillating angledetector detecting the oscillating angle θ_(T) of the occipital regioncare unit 500. The pulse signal generated by the encoder 592, which isinformation on the oscillating angle θ_(T) of the occipital region careunit 500, is inputted to the control device 600.

The automatic head washing system 100 has an operating section 404receiving a manual input. An operating signal inputted to the operatingsection 404 is inputted to the control device 600. The automatic headwashing system 100 further has a display 406 displaying variousoperating states of the automatic head washing system 100 on the basisof an output signal from the control device 600. However, the operatingsection 404 may be a touch panel-type operating section. When theoperating section 404 is the touch panel-type operating section, thedisplay 406 can be integrated with the operating section.

The control device 600 has a head care control section 602, an occipitalregion care control section 604, a head support control section 606, anoccipital region pushing force control section 610, and a storagesection 690 storing various types of information. The head care controlsection 602 controls the caring operation of the person's head 10 withthe right and left arms 114L and 114R. The occipital region care controlsection 604 controls the caring operation of the occipital region 11with the occipital region care unit 500. The head support controlsection 606 controls the head contact units 409L and 409R of the arms114L and 114R so as to be arranged at respective head support positionswhere the head 10 can be supported from below, at the caring operationof the occipital region 11 with the occipital region care unit 500. Theoccipital region pushing force control section 610 controls the pushingforce of the occipital region contact unit 548 of the occipital regioncare unit 500 onto the occipital region 11 in the state where the headcontact units 409L and 409R are arranged at the respective head supportpositions.

To perform the washing operation of the head 10 with the arms 114L and114R, the head care control section 602 controls the right and left armactuators 401L and 401R and opening/closing of the various valves 216,217, and 218. Through such a control, the swinging rotation or thepushing rotation of the arms 114L and 114R, the kneading operation ofthe contacts 109, and the ejecting operation of water, a washing liquid,or conditioner from the nozzles 110 can cooperate with each other invarious patterns. Thereby, the various washing operations of the head 10such as washing by kneading, rinsing, draining, and brushing can beachieved.

To perform the massaging operation of the head 10 with the arms 114L and114R, the head care control section 602 controls the right and left armactuators 401L and 401R. Through such a control, the swinging rotationor the pushing rotation of the arms 114L and 114R and the kneadingoperation of the contacts 109 can cooperate with each other in variouspatterns. Thereby, various massaging operations can be achieved.

When the head care control section 602 controls the washing operation orthe massaging operation of the head 10 in this manner, since theoccipital region 11 is supported by the occipital region care unit 500from below, the washing operation or the massaging operation can beperformed in the stable state of the head 10.

To perform the caring operation of the occipital region 11 with theoccipital region care unit 500, the occipital region care controlsection 604 controls the occipital region care unit actuator 402 tocause the occipital region care unit 500 to perform the oscillatingoperation and the kneading operation in combination. Thereby, theoccipital region care unit 500 can perform washing or massagingoperation even on portions of the occipital region 11 that cannot becared by the arms 114L and 114R. When the occipital region care unit 500performs the washing operation, preferably, water, a washing liquid, orconditioner is ejected from the occipital region washing nozzle. In thiscase, opening/closing of the valves to control ejection is controlled inconjunction with the oscillating operation and the kneading operation ofthe occipital region care unit 500.

The head support control section 606 controls the right and left armactuators 401L and 401R in the caring operation of the occipital region11 with the occipital region care unit 500, thereby arranging the headcontact units 409L and 409R of the right and left arms 114L and 114R atthe below-mentioned head support positions.

The head support positions at which the arms 114L and 114R are arrangedare set to positions where the arms do not interfere with the occipitalregion contact unit 548 of the occipital region care unit 500 in theoccipital region 11, and a load on the person's neck is reduced. In thecase where the occipital region contact unit 548 is provided in contactwith a lower part 11 b of the occipital region 11, the head supportpositions are set such that the arms are in contact with an upper part11 a of the occipital region 11. Specifically, the head supportpositions are set such that the swing angle θ_(SL) of the arm 114L is 0degrees or larger and the swing angle θ_(SR) of the arm 114R is 30degrees or smaller. By setting the head support positions such that theswing angles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) fall within the range of 0 to 30 degrees,when the head 10 is supported by the arms 114L and 114R rather than theoccipital region care unit 500, the position of the head 10 does notchange so much, reducing the load on the person's neck.

To stabilize support of the head 10 against the gravity, the headsupport positions are desirably set such that the swing angles θ_(SL)and θ_(SR) fail within the range of 0 to 10 degrees. By setting theswing angles in the range of 0 to 10 degrees, the head 10 can be stablysupported against the gravity, and the load on the person's neck can bereduced.

To reduce loads on the arms 114L and 114R, the head support positionsare desirably set such that the swing angles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) fallwithin the range of 20 to 30 degrees. By setting the swing angles to therange, the load on the arms 114L and 114R can be reduced, and the loadon the person's neck can be also reduced in terms of the relationshipamong fulcrums, points of application, and points of action of the arms114L and 114R, the occipital region care unit 500, and the notch 101 c.

As shown in FIG. 16, by setting the positions where the arms 114L and114R are adjacent to the occipital region care unit 500 as the headsupport positions, a change in the position of the person's head 10 canbe reduced, decreasing the load on the person's neck. However, in thecase where the head support positions are set adjacent to the occipitalregion care unit 500, it is likely that the arms 114L and 114R interferewith the occipital region care unit 500 and therefore, the arms 114L and114R need to be controlled more accurately.

In moving the arms 114L and 114R to the respective head supportpositions, it is desired that the arms 114L and 114R are firstswingingly rotated to adjust the respective swing angles and then, aregradually moved toward the head 10. At this time, it is desired that thearms 114L and 114R are gradually moved toward the head 10 incooperation. By adjusting the swing angles of the arms 114L and 114R andthen, moving the arms 114L and 114R in the pushing direction asdescribed above, when support of the head is switched from the occipitalregion care unit 500 to the arms 114L and 114R, the load on the person'sneck can be further reduced.

Specifically, the head support control section 606 controls the swingangles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) and the pushing angles θ_(PL) and θ_(PR) of theright and left arms 114L and 114R such that the head contact units 409Land 409R are arranged at the respective head support positions. At thistime, the swing angles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) of the right and left arms 114Land 114R are controlled so as to be equal to each other. However, toprevent the arms 114L and 114R from interfering with each other, theswing angles θ_(SL) and θ_(SR) may be slightly shifted from each other.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the occipital region careunit 500 cares the occipital region 11, since the head 10 is supportedby the right and left arms 114L and 114R, the occipital region 11 can becared in the stable state of the head 10.

When the arms 114L and 114R support the head 10, preferably, the fourtharms 309L, 310L, 317L, and 320L of the arm 114L are parallel to oneanother. By arranging the fourth arms 309L, 310L, 317L, and 320L to beparallel to one another, the load onto the head 10 from the contacts 109can be uniformly distributed.

By oscillating the contacts 109 of the head contact units 409L and 409Rof the arms 114L and 114R that support the head 10 while the occipitalregion care unit 500 cares the occipital region 11, water, a washingliquid, or conditioner can be flown more smoothly. Specifically, whenthe contacts 109 of the arms 114L and 114R that support the head 10 areoscillated while the occipital region care unit 500 cares the occipitalregion 11, water, a washing liquid, or conditioner generated by washingoperation of the occipital region care unit 500 flows through the gapbetween the contacts 109 and the head 10, which is caused by theoscillation, more smoothly. In this case, the arms 114L and 114R thatsupport the head 10 can also massage the head 10.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 has a commandvalue output section 612 outputting a predetermined command value withrespect to the pushing force of the occipital region contact unit 548onto the occipital region 11. The command value output section 612outputs the pushing force with which the occipital region care unit 500can optimally care the occipital region 11, as the command value.Accordingly, the command value outputted from the command value outputsection 612 changes to an optimal value at all times according to thecaring mode of the occipital region 11.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 further has asupport position adjusting section 614 controlling the arm actuators401L and 401R to adjust the head support positions such that the pushingforce of the occipital region 11 on the occipital region contact unit548, which is detected by the third pressure sensor 580, corresponds tothe command value outputted from the command value output section 612.

Specifically, the support position adjusting section 614 controls theleft arm pushing motor 206L and the right arm pushing motor 206R tocontrol the pushing angles θ_(PL) and θ_(PR) of the arms 114L and 114R,thereby adjusting the height of the head support positions. The pushingforce of the occipital region contact unit 548 onto the occipital region11 decreases as the head support positions rise, and the pushing forceincreases as the head support positions lower. For this reason, thesupport position adjusting section 614 can adjust the height of the headsupport positions such that the pushing force of the occipital regioncontact unit 548 onto the occipital region 11 corresponds to the commandvalue outputted from the command value output section 612.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 may further havean output correcting section 616 correcting the command value outputtedfrom the command value output section 612 according to the oscillatingangle θ_(T) of the occipital region care unit 500, which is detected bythe encoder 592. The output correcting section 616 will be specificallydescribed in a below-mentioned second embodiment.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 may have an inputcorrecting section 618 correcting the command value inputted from thecommand value output section 612 to the right arm actuator 401R via thesupport position adjusting section 614 such that the pushing forcedetected by the first pressure sensor 211L of the left arm 114Lcorresponds to the pushing force detected by the second pressure sensor211R of the right arm 114R. The input correcting section 618 will bespecifically described in a below-mentioned third embodiment.

The specific configuration of the occipital region pushing force controlsection 610 will be described below.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 in the first embodiment. FIG.13 is a schematic view showing the state where the upper part 11 a ofthe occipital region 11 is supported from below by the head contactunits 409L and 409R of the arms 114L and 114R arranged at the respectivehead support positions, and the occipital region care unit 500 cares thelower part 11 b of the occipital region 11, when viewed from the left ofthe head 10. The upper part 11 a of the occipital region 11 refers to avertex-side portion of the occipital region 11, and the lower part 11 bof the occipital region 11 refers to a neck-side portion of theoccipital region 11. Although FIG. 13 shows only the head contact unit409L of the left arm 114L, the head contact unit 409R of the right arm114R is also arranged at the head support position.

As shown in FIG. 13, the occipital region pushing force control section610 has a comparator 622. The comparator 622 compares the command valueoutputted from the command value output section 612 with the pushingforce detected by the third pressure sensor 580 to calculate an errortherebetween.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 has a positioncontroller 624 controlled by the support position adjusting section 614.The position controller 624 performs calculation on the basis of anerror signal sent from the comparator 622. A signal of the calculationresult is sent from the position controller 624 to the left arm pushingmotor 206L and the right arm pushing motor 206R. Thereby, the pushingangles θ_(PL) and θ_(PR) of the arms 114L and 114R are adjusted toadjust the positions of the head contact units 409L and 409R of the arms114L and 114R such that the pushing force of the occipital regioncontact unit 548 onto the lower part 11 b of the occipital region 11 cancorrespond to the command value of the command value output section 612.

Through such feedback control, in the first embodiment, the occipitalregion care unit 500 can care the occipital region 11 with the suitablepushing force at all times in the state where the head 10 is stablysupported by the arms 114L and 114R.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 of another aspect of the firstembodiment. FIG. 16 is the same as FIG. 13 except for the position ofthe head contact unit 409L of the left arm 114L and the head contactunit 409R of the right arm 114R and thus, description thereof isomitted.

The head washing operation using the automatic head washing system inthe first embodiment will be described with reference to a flow chart inFIG. 17.

As shown in FIG. 17, the occipital region care unit 500 supports theoccipital region 11 of the person's head 10 in the bowl 101 (Step S01).To support the occipital region 11, the person himself/herself may placethe occipital region 11 on the occipital region care unit 500, or theautomatic head washing system may move the occipital region care unit500 on the basis of information of a sensor.

Subsequently, the washing unit 12 performs the pushing rotation, theswinging rotation, or/and the kneading operation to wash the head 10except for the occipital region 11 (Step S02).

Subsequently, when washing of the head 10 except for the occipitalregion 11 is finished, the head 10 is supported at the head supportpositions by the washing unit 12 (Step S03).

Subsequently, when support of the head 10 by the washing unit 12 isconfirmed, support of the occipital region 11 by the occipital regioncare unit 500 is released (Step S04). When the support of the head 10 bythe washing unit 12 is inadequate in Step S03, the head 10 may fall atthe moment the support by the occipital region care unit 500 is releasedand therefore, it is desired that support of the head 10 by the washingunit 12 is reliably confirmed by use of an image sensor or the pressuresensors 211L and 211R.

Subsequently, the occipital region care unit 500 performs the kneadingoperation or/and is oscillated to wash the occipital region 11 (StepS05).

Subsequently, when washing of the occipital region 11 is completed, theoccipital region care unit 500 supports the occipital region 11 (StepS06).

Subsequently, when support of the occipital region 11 by the occipitalregion care unit 500 is confirmed, the support of the head 10 by thewashing unit 12 is released.

The head washing operation using the automatic head washing system inthe first embodiment is performed by executing Steps S01 to S07 andthen, repeating Steps S02 to S07 predetermined times (once or more) asnecessary.

The sequence of washing of the head 10 except for the occipital region11 (Steps S02 to S04) and washing of the occipital region 11 (Step S05to S07) may be changed. However, in this case, in Step S01, it is needto support the head 10 at the head support positions by the washing unit12. When the occipital region 11 is first supported, the washed personprobably can feel at ease. Therefore, it is preferable that the head bewashed in the sequence shown in FIG. 17 if possible.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 in accordance with a secondembodiment. Only the occipital region pushing force control section 610of the automatic head washing system in accordance with the secondembodiment of the present invention that is different from the occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 of the automatic head washingsystem in accordance with the first embodiment will be described, anddescription of the same configuration and operation as those of theautomatic head washing system in the first embodiment is omitted. LikeFIG. 13, FIG. 14 shows only the head contact unit 409L of the left arm114L, but the head contact unit 409R of the right arm 114R is alsoarranged at the head support position.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 in the secondembodiment performs the same control as the control in the firstembodiment, as well as control to prevent a malfunction caused byoscillation of the occipital region care unit 500 at washing of theoccipital region 11 by the occipital region care unit 500.

Specifically, the pushing force of the occipital region contact unit 548onto the occipital region 11 varies depending on the oscillating angleθ_(T) of the occipital region care unit 500. For this reason, in thecase where the head support positions of the arms 114L and 114R aremerely adjusted based on the output value of the third pressure sensor580 as in the first embodiment, when the occipital region care unit 500cares the occipital region 11 while being oscillated, the head supportpositions and the head 10 vertically move every time the occipitalregion care unit 500 oscillates, which possibly makes the useruncomfortable.

To prevent this malfunction, in the second embodiment, the outputcorrecting section 616 executes compensation processing for the commandvalue outputted from the command value output section 612 to preventvariation in the height of the head support positions.

As shown in FIG. 14, as in the first embodiment, the occipital regionpushing force control section 610 has a comparator 622 and a positioncontroller 624. The occipital region pushing force control section 610in the second embodiment has an FF compensator 632 and an adder 634 thatare controlled by the output correcting section 616.

Information on the oscillating angle θ_(T) of the occipital region careunit 500, which is outputted from the encoder 592, is inputted to the FFcompensator 632. The FF compensator 632 executes the compensationprocessing for the command value outputted from the command value outputsection 612 according to the inputted value of the oscillating angleθ_(T). The compensation processing uses information corresponding to theoscillating angle θ_(T), which is previously stored in the storagesection 690.

In a specific example, in the case where as the oscillating angle θ_(T)is smaller, the pushing force of the occipital region contact unit 548onto the occipital region 11 becomes larger, as the oscillating angleθ_(T) is smaller, the head support positions tend to rise, and as theoscillating angle θ_(T) is larger, the head support positions tend tolower. For this reason, in this case, the output correcting section 616corrects the command value outputted from the command value outputsection 612 to become larger as the oscillating angle θ_(T) is smaller,thereby allowing an increase in the pushing force to prevent the headsupport positions from rising due to oscillation of the occipital regioncare unit 500. Further, output correcting section 616 corrects thecommand value outputted from the command value output section 612 tobecome smaller as the oscillating angle θ_(T) is larger, therebyallowing a decrease in the pushing force to prevent the head supportpositions from lowering due to oscillation of the occipital region careunit 500.

The adder 634 adds a value outputted from the FF compensator 632 to thecommand value outputted from the command value output section 612. Thecommand value thus corrected is sent to the comparator 622, and the samefeedback control as in the first embodiment is performed.

As described above, in the second embodiment, by using the same feedbackcontrol as in the first embodiment and feed forward control based on theoscillating angle θ_(T), the occipital region care unit 500 can care theoccipital region 11 with more suitable pushing force while giving ahigher priority to preventing vertical movement of the person's head 10than preventing variation in the pushing force.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 in accordance with a thirdembodiment. Only the occipital region pushing force control section 610of the automatic head washing system in accordance with the thirdembodiment of the present invention that is different from the occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 of the automatic head washingsystem in accordance with the first embodiment will be described, anddescription of the same configuration and operation as those of theautomatic head washing system in the first embodiment is omitted. FIG.15 is a schematic view showing the state where the person's head 10 issupported from below by the head contact units 409L and 409R of the arms114L and 114R arranged at the respective head support positions, and theoccipital region care unit 500 cares the occipital region 11 when viewedfrom the top of the head 10.

The occipital region pushing force control section 610 in accordancewith the third embodiment performs the same control as in the firstembodiment as well as control to prevent an imbalance between loads fromthe head 10 on the right and left arms 114L and 114R at washing of theoccipital region 11 by the occipital region care unit 500.

Specifically, the height of the lower end of the head 10 stored in thebowl 101 may laterally vary because, for example, the shape of theperson's head 10 is not symmetrical, the head 10 in the inclined stateis stored in the bowl 101, or the center of the head 10 is displacedfrom the center of the bowl 101 in the lateral direction. In this case,when the head support positions of the right and left arms 114L and 114Rare set uniform, the loads on the right and left arms 114L and 114R maybe imbalanced, applying an excessive load on one of the arms 114L and114R.

To prevent this malfunction, in the third embodiment, the inputcorrecting section 618 executes compensation processing for the commandvalue inputted from the command value output section 612 to the rightarm pushing motor 206R via the support position adjusting section 614 toprevent the imbalance of the loads on the right and left arms 114L and114R.

As shown in FIG. 15, as in the first embodiment, the occipital regionpushing force control section 610 has a comparator 622 and a positioncontroller 624. The occipital region pushing force control section 610in accordance with third embodiment has a comparator 646, a balancecompensator 648, and an adder 650 that are controlled by the inputcorrecting section 618.

The comparator 646 compares an output value from the first pressuresensor 211L provided at the left arm 114L with an output value from thesecond pressure sensor 211R provided at the right arm 114R, andcalculates a difference between pushing forces applied from the head 10to the right and left arms 114L and 114R. An error signal outputted fromthe comparator 646 is sent to the balance compensator 648.

Based on information inputted from the comparator 646, the balancecompensator 648 executes compensation processing for the pushing forcecommand value inputted to the right arm pushing motor 206R such that thepushing force applied to the left arm 114L corresponds to the pushingforce applied to the right arm 114R.

The adder 650 adds a value outputted from the balance compensator 648 tothe pushing force command value inputted from the command value outputsection 612 via the position controller 624. The command value acquiredafter addition in the adder 650 is inputted to the right arm pushingmotor 206R.

The compensation processing of the balance compensator 648 will bespecifically described. For example, when the pushing force applied tothe right arm 114R is larger than the pushing force applied to the leftarm 114L, the balance compensator 648 executes the compensationprocessing such that the pushing angle θ_(PR) of the right arm 114Rdecreases. As a result, since the head contact unit 409R of the rightarm 114R lowers, the load on the right arm 114R is decreased to preventthe imbalance between the loads on the right and left arms 114L and114R. Conversely, when the pushing force applied to the right arm 114Ris smaller than the pushing force applied to the left arm 114L, thebalance compensator 648 executes the compensation processing such thatthe pushing angle θ_(PR) of the right arm 114R increases. As a result,since the head contact unit 409R of the right arm 114R rises, the loadon the left arm 114L is decreased to prevent the imbalance between theloads on the right and left arms 114L and 114R.

As described above, in the third embodiment, since the imbalance betweenthe loads on the right and left arms 114L and 114R is compensated, anexcessive load on one of the arms 114L and 114R can be prevented. Theloads applied from the arms 114L and 114R on the person's head 10 canalso maintain a balance.

In the third embodiment, the above-mentioned control of the occipitalregion pushing force control section 610 may be combined with the samefeed forward control as that in the second embodiment, therebypreventing vertical movement of the head 10.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theembodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

For example, in the embodiments, the head contact units 409L and 409Reach are configured of the plurality of contacts 109, and the occipitalregion contact unit 548 is configured of the plurality of contacts 550.However, according to the present invention, the configuration of thehead contact units 409L and 409R and the occipital region contact unit548 is not specifically limited.

The right and left arms 114L and 114R each may be provided with a linkmechanism extending and contracting the length of the arm 114L or 114R.By providing such link mechanisms, the head 10 can be cared moresuitably according to its shape and size.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The automatic head washing system according to the present invention canbe widely used in the industry of beauty care and hairdressing and inthe medical field including nursing, which is useful.

PARTS LIST

-   10 head-   11 occipital region-   100 automatic head washing system-   101 bowl-   101 c notch-   101 d bottom-   104L, 104R, 212L, 212R, 213L, 213R, 214L, 214R, 523, 524 support    shaft-   109, 550 contact-   114L, 114R arm-   201L, 201R arm swinging motor-   203L, 203R, 204L, 204R, 207L, 207R, 208L, 208R, 302L, 303L, 305L,    307L, 311L, 313L, 315L, 318L, 502, 503, 505, 507, 511, 513, 537, 541    gear-   206L, 206R arm pushing motor-   209L, 209R arm rotation shaft-   211L first pressure sensor-   211R second pressure sensor-   291L, 291R, 296L, 296R, 592 encoder-   301L, 301R arm kneading motor-   304L, 504 drive shaft-   306L, 314L, 506, 514 cylindrical rack-   306La, 314La rack mechanism-   308L, 312L, 316L, 319L, 564 rotation shaft-   401L, 401R arm actuator-   402 r occipital region care unit actuator-   409L, 409R head contact unit-   500 occipital region care unit-   501 occipital region kneading motor-   508, 512, 538, 542 rotation shaft-   509, 510, 539, 540 kneading arm-   527, 528 holding stage-   548 occipital region contact unit-   562 oscillating arm-   570 base-   572 occipital region oscillating motor-   580 third pressure sensor-   600 control device-   602 head care control section-   604 occipital region care control section-   606 head support control section-   610 occipital region pushing force control section-   612 command value output section-   614 support position adjusting section-   616 output correcting section-   618 input correcting section-   690 storage unit

1. An automatic head care method for caring a person's head with anautomatic head care system including an occipital region care unitsupporting the head, a pair of care arms arranged on right and leftsides of the occipital region care unit, a head contact unit provided ateach of the pair of care arms, an arm actuator driving the care arms, anoccipital region contact unit provided at the occipital region careunit, an occipital region care unit actuator driving the occipitalregion care unit, and an occipital region pushing force detectordetecting a pushing force on the occipital region contact unit, themethod comprising: supporting the occipital region by the occipitalregion contact unit of the occipital region care unit when the care armscare the head except for the occipital region; and supporting the headby the head contact units of the care arms when the occipital regioncare unit cares the occipital region.
 2. The automatic head care methodaccording to claim 1, comprising: arranging the care arms at respectivehead support positions to support the head, when the head contact unitsof the care arms support the head.
 3. The automatic head care methodaccording to claim 2, comprising: adjusting the head support positionsbased on the detected pushing force on the occipital region contactunit, when the head contact units of the care arms support the head. 4.The automatic head care method according to claim 3, comprising:detecting a pushing force on the head contact unit of one of the carearms by a first head pushing force detector and detecting a pushingforce on the head contact unit of another one of the care arms by asecond head pushing force detector; and adjusting the head supportpositions so as to equalize the pushing force detected by the first headpushing force detector and the pushing force detected by the second headpushing force detector, each other.
 5. The automatic head care methodaccording to claim 2, wherein swing angle of the care arm at the headsupport position is in a range of 0 to 30 degrees, given that the swingangle of the care arm arranged vertically downward is 0 degrees, andthat the swing angle of the care arm horizontally arranged is 90degrees.
 6. The automatic head care method according to claim 2, whereinthe head support positions are positions adjacent to the occipitalregion care unit.
 7. The automatic head care method according to claim1, comprising: detecting an oscillating angle of the occipital regioncare unit and correcting a pushing force of the occipital region careunit according to the detected oscillating angle, when the occipitalregion care unit cares the occipital region.
 8. The automatic head caremethod according to claim 1, wherein the automatic head care systemincludes at least one of a water system supplying unit, a washing liquidsupplying unit, and a conditioner supplying unit, and wherein the methodcomprises: washing the head except for occipital region with the headcontact units of the care arms; and washing the occipital region withthe occipital region contact unit of the occipital region care unit. 9.An automatic head care system comprising: an occipital region care unitsupporting a person's head; a pair of care arms arranged on right andleft sides of the occipital region care unit; a head contact unitprovided at each of the pair of care arms; an arm actuator driving thecare arms; an occipital region contact unit provided at the occipitalregion care unit; an occipital region care unit actuator driving theoccipital region care unit; an occipital region pushing force detectordetecting a pushing force on the occipital region contact unit; and acontrol device controlling the arm actuator and the occipital regioncare unit actuator, wherein the control device performs such controlthat when the care arms care the head except for the occipital region,the occipital region contact unit of the occipital region care unitsupports the occipital region, and that when the occipital region careunit cares the occipital region, the head contact units of the care armssupport the head.
 10. The automatic head care system according to claim9, wherein when the head contact units of the care arms support thehead, the control device arranges the care arms at respective headsupport positions to support the head.
 11. The automatic head caresystem according to claim 10, wherein when the head contact units of thecare arms support the head, the control device adjusts the head supportpositions according to the detected pushing force on the occipitalregion contact unit.
 12. The automatic head care system according toclaim 9, further comprising: an oscillating device oscillating theoccipital region care unit about an axis extending in a lateraldirection of the occipital region care unit during washing of theoccipital region; and an oscillating angle detector detecting anoscillating angle of the occipital region care unit oscillated by theoscillating device, wherein the control device has an output correctingsection correcting the pushing force on the occipital region contactunit according to the oscillating angle detected by the oscillatingangle detector.
 13. The automatic head care system according to claim 9,further comprising: at least one of a water system supplying unit, awashing liquid supplying unit, and a conditioner supplying unit, whereinthe control device makes the head contact units of the care arms to washthe head except for the occipital region, and makes the occipital regioncontact unit of the occipital region care unit to wash the occipitalregion.